Co-Chairs Note Upon Conclusion of the Bonn Climate Change Conference 2018

Respectful greetings,

We transmit herewith a note in our capacity as Co-Chairs of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, convened under the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) during the Bonn Climate Change Conference 2018, which included the forty-eighth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI48) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA48) as well as the fifth part of the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1-5).

In accordance with the collective view of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus expressed during its preparatory meeting on April 29 2018 at the Evangelischer Kirchenkreis in Bonn, the Co-Chairs have prioritized the negotiations to further operationalize the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples (LCIP) platform in the coordination and deliberations of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus during the 2018 Bonn Climate Change Conference.

As a variety of proposals have been made by Parties and the IIPFCC during the negotiations and, in order to ensure that the document which will be finalized during the twenty-fourth session of the Conference of Parties (COP24) reflects the views of Indigenous Peoples, and to safeguard the ownership of the document by Parties and Indigenous Peoples, we, as Co-Chairs, have worked to provide a note on the current status of said platform and the dangers involved in some of the proposals made by Parties.

We highly value the importance of open, transparent and inclusive consultations between Indigenous Peoples and Parties, and encourage all interested Indigenous Peoples, Parties and other stakeholders to raise any ideas and concerns with us. Should any organization, Party or groups of Parties wish to consult with the IIPFCC through its Co-Chairs, please contact the Indigenous Peoples focal point to the UNFCCC Secretariat (Mr. Lakpa Nuri Sherpa, email: nuri@aippnet.org).

We are committed to engage further in a constructive dialogue on this important subject before and during COP24.

Please accept, the assurances of our highest consideration.

Juan Carlos Jintiach, Ghazali Ohorella,

Co-Chairs Indigenous Peoples Caucus

Download Co-Chairs Note [ PDF]

---

Photos of Indigenous Peoples Caucus at SBSTA 48, May 2018

Photos of various members of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus and the IIPFCC - Global Steering Committee throughout SBSTA 48 by Rafael Ponte/SERVINDI can be viewed at the following website address:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/140678303@N03/albums/with/72157696079895244

IIPFCC Closing Statement will be made today, 10 March 2018

Frank Ettawageshik of the National Congress of American Indians will give the closing statement of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change at the UNFCCC Climate Talks Plenary Session. The session begins at 3 PM Bonn time. He will speak about 2 hours after the start. Bonn, Germany is six hours ahead of EDT in the US. The webcast link can be found here: 
https://unfccc-sb48.cloud.streamworld.de/webcast/sbsta-closing-plenary-2

LCIPP Workshop Photos from IISB/ENB

IISD/ENB shared the website where you'll find the group photo at the end of the dialogue and some others during the LCIPP workshop. Scroll down page to May 1, 2018 at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/sb48/

Frank Ettawageshik, National Congress of American Indians, opens the session with a prayer

Multi-stakeholder workshop on LCIPP held on 1 May 2018

As a follow-up to the Paris Agreement, an open, multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform took place on 1 May 2018. The workshop was the historic, first activity of the platform. Paul Watkinson, Chair of the SBSTA and Roberto Mukaro Borrero (Taíno), representative of local communities and indigenous peoples organizations were the session's co-moderators. Christiana Figueres Olsen, Executive Secretary of the UFCCC  gave a key note address as well as Grace Balawag of Tebtebba Foundation. A report on the session will be issued by the co-moderators before COP24. 

Grace Balawag (at left), Roberto Múkaro Borrero, and Frank Ettawageshik  at the Multi-stakeholder Workshop on 1 May 2018

UN Climate Change Launches First-Ever Annual Report

UN Climate Change News, 30 April 2018 – UN Climate Change today launched its first-ever Annual Report, laying out the key 2017 achievements and pointing to the future of the climate change process.

"Climate Change is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. “This annual report shows how UN Climate Change is doing everything it can to support, encourage and build on the global response to climate change.”

The report covers many areas of the 2017 work of UN Climate Change, which includes the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, as well as their bodies, institutional arrangements, organs and the secretariat.

For example, at the UN Climate Change conference (COP23) presided over by Fiji last November, almost 30,000 people from all levels came together in Bonn, Germany, to drive action on climate change. The conference saw financial commitments amounting to almost USD 1 billion to tackle climate change.

Governments took key decisions, among them launching the Talanoa Dialogue, the first-ever Gender Action Plan, a platform for indigenous peoples and local communities, and an agreement on agriculture.

Throughout 2017, UN Climate Change continued to deliver on its core tasks: supporting the intergovernmental process, bringing transparency to climate commitments, supporting Parties in building resilience and adapting to climate change, facilitating the mobilization of finance and diffusion of technology, and fostering cooperation with non-Party stakeholders to realize the Paris Agreement’s potential.

The report also looks at the outlook for the year ahead, including increasing the number of ratifications of the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol so it can enter into force, the Talanoa Dialogue which will inform and inspire Parties as they increase their commitments, and adopting the outcomes of the work programme of the Paris Agreement at the end of 2018.

“Throughout 2018 and beyond, let us do all in our power, together, to accelerate action,” said Ms. Espinosa. “Only by doing so can we succeed in protecting our planet from climate change and securing a low-carbon, sustainable future.”

Countries are now gathered in Bonn focused on critical interim work leading to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, including preparation of the Paris Agreement Work Programme, which will guide implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Read the full UN Climate Change Annual Report 2017.

Agenda for the multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform

Please find below the agenda for the multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. The co-moderators for the workshop are Paul Watkinson, Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Roberto Múkaro Borrero (Taíno), representative of indigenous peoples organizations 

You can find the event details here.

If you are participating remotely, you are welcome you to tune in via Skype here. You can also submit your questions by visit here, and keying in the event code #LCIPP (in capital letters).

We also welcome you to interact with us via social media using the event hashtag #LCIPP.

Please us know if you have any technical questions via the email address: LCIPP@unfccc.int 

Agenda for the multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform, 1 May 2018
English  |  Español  |  Français  |  Русский 

At COP 23, Parties initiated the operationalization of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform. 

IP Caucus Opening Statement of IIPFCC to APA/SBI/SBSTA, 30 April 2018

Opening Statement of IIPFCC to APA/SBI/SBSTA, 30 April 2018
English  |  Español  |  Français  |  Русский 

Daily Indigenous Peoples Caucus Meetings in Bonn, 30 April - 10 May 2018

Daily meetings for the Indigenous Peoples Caucus will be held from 9:00-10:00 at the World Conference Center in Bonn. On April 30th, the meeting will be  Room BANGKOK. From May 1st-10th, the meetings will be held in the AH Upper Conference Room. 

In-session workshop on Gender and Climate Change

In-session workshop on Gender and Climate Change - Part 1: Differentiated impacts of climate change and gender-responsive climate policy and action

Time: 11:00 - 19:00

Room: AH Upper Conference room

Venue: UN Campus, ‘Altes Abgeordnetenhochhaus’ (AH), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1

City: Bonn                          Country: Germany

Background: COP 22, in decision 21/CP.22 on gender and climate change, as part of its decision to continue and enhance the Lima work programme on gender, decided to hold annual in-session workshops in conjunction with the first sessional periods of the subsidiary bodies in 2018 and 2019. COP 23, in decision 3/CP.23 decided that the topic for the 2018 in-session workshop on gender and climate change would be based on the submission request under priority area E.1 of the gender action plan. Priority area E focuses on monitoring and reporting, with an emphasis on sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis.

Schedule: The workshop will be held in two parts:

• Part I: Including sex-disaggregated and gender analysis, examine the differentiated impacts of climate change on women and men, with special attention paid to local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as the integration of gender considerations into climate adaptation, mitigation, capacity-building, Action for Climate Empowerment, technology and finance policies, plans and actions.

• Part II: Policies, plans and progress in enhancing gender balance in national delegations

Objectives: 

• To raise awareness on the differentiated impacts of climate change, including how to identify such differences and address them in policy and action design and implementation;

• To build the capacity of participants to understand the tools and mechanisms that facilitate the design and implementation of gender-responsive climate policy and action;

• To raise awareness on possible options for enhancing gender balance in national climate delegations;

• To provide an opportunity for Party delegates and observers to brainstorm on possible options.

Outcome: A summary report for each part of the workshop that captures challenges and good practices related to the topics, will be prepared and published as an INF document and will be made available on the UNFCCC website after the close of SBI 48.

Format: The in-session workshop will combine expert and technical presentations, group discussions and panel presentations with sufficient time for substantive, interactive discussions on how to enhance implementation under the Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan.

Participants: Open to Parties and observers registered for SBI 48. Also open to the press.

Venue: World Conference Center (rooms to be confirmed), Bonn, Germany

Gender and climate change workshop annotated programme (will be available prior to SBI 48)

Organizer and contact:
The workshop is being organized by the UNFCCC secretariat
Fleur Newman (Ms)
Gender Affairs Officer
Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany
gender-team@unfccc.int

Language: English

Mandated event

Source: UNFCCC

 

Multi-stakeholder workshop of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform

"Join us for an open multi-stakeholder dialogue on implementing the functions of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform."

Detailed information about the workshop as follows: 

Co-moderators: Paul Watkinson, Chair of the SBSTA; and Roberto Múkaro Borrero (Taíno), representative of local communities and indigenous peoples organizations

Date: Tuesday (1 May, 2018) at 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00

Venue: World Conference Centre Bonn, Bonn Germany

Mandate: COP 23 (Decision 2/CP. 23, paragraph 9) decided that the first activity of the platform will be a multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions of the platform, to be co-moderated by the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and a representative of local communities and indigenous peoples organizations, who will each make an equal contribution to the design of the workshop.

Agenda: Coming soon

Source: UNFCCC

IIPFCC Preparatory Meeting: 29 April 2018

IIPFCC preparatory meeting for SBSTA 48 is taking place on 29 April 2018 at Haus der Evangelischen Kirche Bonn at Adenauerallee 37, 53113 Bonn.

Please find the document below in English, Español, and Français, which provides instructions on how to reach the meeting venue. Special thanks to Karen Pfefferli at DOCIP and IWGIA for the translation of the documents and for supporting the Caucus. 

English  |  Español  |  Français  |  Русский 

Notice on Co-moderator for Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue in Bonn, May 2018

From the IIPFCC-GSC Co-chairs: In accordance with the proposed timeline, with a deadline of the 23rd of April, the regions had an opportunity to comment on the selection of Mr. Roberto Múkaro Borrero as co-moderator, and with the assumption that no objection is a signal of support, Mr. Borrero has been confirmed as the Co-moderator for the workshop to be held in exactly one week. Now we should be looking at the design and substance of this workshop, and we look to Roberto to start the process of gathering input from the regions. 

Terms of Reference for Co-Moderator
English  |  Español  |  Français  |  Русский 

An Update from the IIPFCC co-chairs on the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform at the UNFCCC

Pursuant to a decision at COP23 held in Bonn, German in 2017, Parties (governments) to the UNFCCC initiated the operationalization of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform, and decided that the overall purpose of the platform will be:

● To strengthen the knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change,

● To facilitate the exchange of experience and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner, and

● To enhance the engagement of local communities and indigenous peoples in the UNFCCC process;

The Parties also decided that the platform will deliver the following three functions:

(1) Promotion of knowledge through the exchange of experiences, technologies, practices taking into account the free, prior and informed consent of the knowledge holders;

(2) Building the capacities of indigenous peoples and local communities, and Parties to engage with the platform and the UNFCCC; and

(3) Facilitating the integration of knowledge systems, practices and innovations when implementing international and national actions, programmes and policies for a stronger and more ambitious climate action.

Additionally, at COP23, Parties recommended that the interests and views of local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as the principles proposed by indigenous peoples organizations be taken into account.

The principles proposed by the IIPFCCC and - after intense negotiations - accepted by the parties were:

● full and effective participation of indigenous peoples;

● equal status of indigenous peoples and Parties, including in leadership roles;

● self-selection of indigenous peoples representatives in accordance with indigenous peoples’ own procedures; and

● adequate funding from the secretariat and voluntary contributions to enable the implementation of the functions of the platform;

Further steps towards operationalization of the platform, will include a multi-stakeholder dialogue to be scheduled at the SBSTA 48 meeting (30 April – 10 May 2018), which will seek to define the role of a facilitating working group and a work plan. This dialogue will be co moderated by the Chair of SBSTA and a nominated indigenous representative.

The IIPFCC informed the Indigenous Peoples Caucus of this goal at the close of COP23 and that the IIPFCC-GSC will receive regional nominations for the co-moderator until 15. January 2018.

Three nominees from the regions were presented during this period including:

1.) Grace Balawag, Tebtebba Foundation (Nomination supported by the Asia Region)

2.) Estebancio Castro, (Nomination supported by the Latin American Region)

3.) Roberto Borrero, International Indian Treaty Council (Nomination supported by North America, the Arctic, Russia, and the Pacific Regions)

The African region has expressed support of a consensus selection and it is a goal of the IIPFCC to affirm the indigenous co-moderator by consensus.

As of 22. March, Asia has withdrawn their nomination, leaving two nominees - Estebancio Castro and Roberto Borrero.

The issue will be now be undertaken by the IIPFCC-GSC co-chairs who will seek to reach a final decision on the co-moderator by 17. April.

Kind regards

The co-chairs:

Runar Myrnes Balto; Lola Cabnal; Maina Talia

At COP23, Moving toward Greater Engagement with Indigenous Peoples

As an advisor to the Métis National Council, I was part of Canada’s delegation to the recent Twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It took place November 6–17 in Bonn, Germany, and was presided over by Fiji.

The Métis National Council represents the Métis Nation at national and international levels. The Métis are one of three Indigenous peoples that are recognized in the Canadian Constitution. The Métis Nation is seeking a greater and more meaningful role in addressing and managing climate change. Nationally, this means engaging with the Canadian government on a nation-to-nation, government-to-government basis.

Internationally, this could mean attending international fora such as COP23 to participate in international climate change discussions. The Métis National Council’s objective for going to COP23 was to launch the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. Paragraph 135 of Decision 1/CP.21, agreed in Paris during COP21, established the platform, which “recognizes the need to strengthen knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change and establishes a platform for the exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices in mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner.”

Climate change is a priority for the Métis Nation, whose relationship to the lands and resources on its traditional territory is at the core of Métis Nation identity. Métis people and other Indigenous peoples live and work on the land and feel the first effects of climate change. Water levels rising in the Pacific, ice melting in the Arctic, and forest fires and floods displacing people are but some examples. It is critical that the Indigenous peoples’ voices are heard, and the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform can be the vehicle for achieving this.

The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) was established in 2008 as the caucus for Indigenous peoples participating in UNFCCC processes. This group was present at COP23. They are organized by seven regions: Africa, the Arctic, Asia, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Russia and Eastern Europe. The IIPFCC worked long and hard to achieve consensus on launching the platform and I felt honoured to have met and worked with them throughout this process.

I worked closely with my counterparts from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), and the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada (ICC Canada). We attended meetings with the IIPFCC, developing positions and trying to achieve consensus, observing informal negotiations, and participating in informal sessions and other side negotiations. Canada worked closely with the Métis National Council as well as with the AFN, the ITK and the ICC to develop negotiating positions. The negotiators worked hard to represent our interests.

After many twists and turns, the decision to begin operationalizing the platform was approved by COP23. The draft decision’s preamble recalls the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples and emphasizes “the role of local communities and indigenous peoples in achieving the targets and goals set in the Convention, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and recognizing their vulnerability to climate change.”

The platform will deliver knowledge, capacity for engagement and climate change policies and actions, as stated in the draft decision’s paragraph 6. Among other things, the knowledge function should promote exchange of experiences and best practices respecting traditional knowledge, as well as practices and efforts of local communities and Indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change. The knowledge function is to take into account the free, prior and informed consent of the knowledge holders, their innovations and practices (para 6(a)). As for capacity for engagement, the platform “should build the capacities of indigenous peoples and local communities to enable their engagement in the UNFCCC process” (para 6(b)). Finally, the platform “should facilitate the integration of diverse knowledge systems…in a manner that respects and promotes the rights and interests of local communities and indigenous peoples” (para 6(c)).

The Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform is a stepping stone to greater engagement of Indigenous peoples and local communities where these voices can be heard. The platform’s first activity will be a multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions referred to in paragraph 6. The Métis Nation hopes to be a part of the full “operationalization” of the platform and of a future where Indigenous peoples are heard by all parties.

PROGRAM

INTERNATIONAL LAW

The opinions expressed in this article/multimedia are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIGI or its Board of Directors.

About the Author

• Dawn Pritchard

  Dawn Pritchard is a citizen of the Métis Nation. On interchange from Justice Canada, she is an adviser with the Métis National Council. She holds an LL.B. from the University of Saskatchewan and resides in Wakefield, Quebec, with her husband, where she writes and plays music in her spare time. This was her first COP.

• Source: https://www.cigionline.org/articles/cop23-moving-toward-greater-engagement-indigenous-peoples

THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN

Thur Nov 16,2017 18:30 - 19:45  video screening

“Five years ago, the Kenyan farmer Kisilu Musya started to use his camera to document his family, his village and the impact that climate change is having on both. They face floods, droughts, storms and when Kisilu’s house is destroyed by a storm, Kisilu starts a communal farmers’ movement and calls for action against the extreme consequences of the weather. Despite all the resistance Kisilu meets he makes it far in his struggle – all the way to both Oslo and the COP21 in Paris. The film is a story of hope from the frontline of climate change”

— http://thankyoufortherain.com/

The Proposed Green Climate Fund Indigenous Peoples Policy by Tebtebba & IPGPCC

 We would like to Invite you to the side event of Tebtebba and the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Partnership on Climate Change, Forests and Sustainable Development on "cy:

IPs Day Agenda COP23 Bonn, Germany

Day Agenda

Indigenous Peoples Day - COP23 Bonn, Germany

Welcome all to the IPs day at room 12, Bonn Zone

IPs day Banner

Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change

September 11-12 2017, Indigenous Peoples from all regions met with States, UN bodies (UNFCCC and UNESCO) in Ottawa Canada to continue discussing the implementation of operative paragraph 135 of the United Nations Paris Agreement.  OP 135 recognizes the need to strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ “knowledge, practices, innovations and efforts” and also calls for the development of a new Traditional Knowledge Exchange Platform to mitigate Climate Change.

In this and other dialogues, IITC has continued to call upon States to change the policies and practices that undermine Indigenous Peoples ability to practice and protect their traditional knowledge in their homelands. These include industrial agriculture using GMO’s and pesticides, habitat destruction, restrictions on access to traditional lands and water, Treaty violations and continued fossil fuel development, as well as failure to implement Indigenous Peoples’ rights to Free Prior and Informed Consent and Cultural Heritage, among others.

IITC also continued to underscore the need to include Indigenous Traditional Knowledge holders, elders and practitioners in the development and implementation of the new Exchange Platform.  For example the participants in the 3rd International Indigenous Peoples Corn Conference, March 7 – 9, 2017, Tecpan, Guatemala, affirmed “that the new Platform for Traditional Knowledge Exchange under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is developed with the full and equal participation of Indigenous Peoples from all regions and especially our knowledge holders and traditional food producers and in a manner that fully respects our rights, traditional indigenous sciences and the richness of our ancestral knowledge” (from The Declaration of Tecpán).

The development of the Traditional Knowledge Exchange Platform will be a focus for IITC’s and other Indigenous Peoples’ participation in the 23rd Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which will take place in Bonn Germany from November 6-17, 2017.

Source: https://www.iitc.org/traditional-knowledge-climate-change/